On the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, there is no team hotter than Tommy Baldwin Racing.
The team is unbeaten in its last three Tour starts, with Doug Coby collecting victories at New York’s Riverhead Raceway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway before rookie Mike Christopher Jr. earned his first Tour triumph with a win in the most recent race at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway.
The team will ride that momentum into Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway, which will be available to watch live on FloRacing at 8:30 p.m. ET.
For the first time this year, the team will field two entries. Coby returns to take the reins of the No. 7NY, while Jimmy Blewett returns to the team to drive the No. 1NY.
“I’m certainly happy to be back in the car,” Coby said. “Tommy Baldwin has two opportunities to win Saturday, with my car and Jimmy Blewett driving the No. 1 for him. It’s a chance to extend the streak.
“Monadnock is an awesome little technical track, where you have to be smart, smooth and consistent and repeat that and do it over and over again for the whole race. It seems like as the race goes on, you can move around and use different parts of the track to get the car to turn. It’s a fun place.”
Coby has made seven previous starts with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Monadnock, earning a victory during the 2015 season. In his six other starts at the quarter-mile bullring, he has finished second twice.
Blewett has made two Tour starts at Monadnock, earning a best finish of third during the 2016 season while driving the No. 4 Mystic Missile.
Tommy Baldwin Racing currently leads the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner standings by a whopping 33 points ahead of the No. 16 team of driver standings leader Ron Silk.
If things continue to go positively for Tommy Baldwin Racing, then that 33-point advantage will be even bigger by the end of Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200.
Tickets for Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 are available by visiting JDVProductions.com. Tickets are also available for the JDV Experience, an all-inclusive premium ticket package for each of the JDV Production events on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule that includes premium seating and a private autograph session.
Can Bonsignore turn his season around?
Justin Bonsignore (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Justin Bonsignore badly needs something positive to happen Saturday at Monadnock.
Other than a victory in the second race of the season at Richmond Raceway in April, things have not gone as planned for the defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion.
Bonsignore has struggled with reliability and speed nearly everywhere and has only managed a best finish of eighth in the three races since his Richmond victory.
With all that in mind, a trip to Monadnock could be the cure for what ails him.
In eight Tour starts at the track, Bonsignore has won three times and has never finished outside of the top 10. He has led 236 laps at the quarter-mile oval, second only to Ryan Preece.
Bonsignore is the most recent winner at Monadnock when the Tour last visited the New Hampshire track in 2020. A win this weekend could help Bonsignore get reset in his hunt for a fourth Tour title.
He is currently seventh in the Tour standings, 39 points out of the championship lead.
Local contenders join the fray
A pair of stout local contenders are joining the field for Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway.
Brian Robie and Todd Patnode will look to defend their home turf against the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour invaders Saturday night, and based on their records, they likely have a decent shot at doing just that.
Robie captured track championships at Monadnock, Claremont Motorsports Park and Hudson Speedway during the 2020 season, which allowed him to claim the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series New Hampshire state championship in the process.
“As far as expectations, we are keeping it simple, looking for a clean race and a top-10 finish,” Robie said. “I need to thank our crew for their unwavering support with these unexpected schedule evolutions and adapting to another new series.”
Patnode is entering the race driving for Cory Plummer. Patnode, the defending NHSTRA Modified champion at Monadnock, has eight championships on Monadnock’s high banks.
If you’re looking for someone with local experience in the field, Patnode likely has more than anyone else. He’s been racing Modifieds and Pro Stocks at the track for decades.
Notes:
Four drivers entered the Duel at the Dog 200 are within five points of each other at the top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings. Ron Silk holds a slim three-point advantage on Tommy Catalano, with Jon McKennedy four points back and Eric Goodale five points back.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour 200-lap feature isn’t the only race on the schedule Saturday at Monadnock. They’re joined by the Granite State Pro Stock Series, which will contest a 75-lap feature. The track’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series – Pure Stocks, Late Model Sportsman, Mini Stocks – will also be in action. A special Street Stock event is also on the card.
Matt Hirschman, who has led more than 200 laps in Tour competition this year, is back for his third race of the season this Saturday night. He has visited Victory Lane at Monadnock already this season, earning a win at the track on April 30 in a non-NASCAR event.
Saturday’s race is the second of three events that make up the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. By virtue of his win in the first race at Lee USA Speedway, Doug Coby leads the standings entering the Duel at the Dog 200. The program includes more than $15,000 in posted bonuses.
It's the largest paying Mod race of the year at @monadnockspeed and it's promoted by JDV. The upcoming #DuelattheDog on Saturday, June 18, will pay $83,763, plus the bonus incentives from the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup. 💰
For the final time this season, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will rip the dirt as it returns to Knoxville Raceway Saturday, June 18 for the second annual Clean Harbors 150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers.
Similar to Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt layout, qualifying heats will set the starting lineup for the 150-lap main event. The first of four heats is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the headliner at 9 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
While relentless rain last year didn’t allow for the heats to play out at Bristol to prepare Truck Series drivers for Knoxville, that wasn’t a problem in April. The qualifying format will play out similarly this weekend on the Iowa half-mile:
Starting lineup format
Four qualifying heats of 15 laps each will be held, with only green-flag laps counting. The overtime rule will not be in effect, but free-pass and wave-around procedures will remain.
Qualifying heat assignments and starting positions will be determined by a random draw, conducted in order of team owners points standings. A total of 38 trucks are on the Knoxville entry list, which would mean two 10-truck & two nine-truck fields for the heats. The main event’s field is capped at 36 trucks, so barring a late entry, two trucks will not qualify.
The starting lineup will be determined by a formula that weighs finishing position plus the number of positions gained during each heat. Drivers finishing first in their heats earn 10 points, second place earns nine, third place earns eight and so forth. Additionally, drivers earn one passing point for each position gained in their heat; there are no point deductions or “negative points” for drivers who lose positions in their heats. The point totals determine starting positions. These points are only used to determine the starting lineup and do not count toward the season-long championship standings.
Ties in these points totals will be broken by current team owners points.
Pit-stop format
Teams will not be allowed to change tires or add fuel except during the breaks between stages.
Teams are required to pit during one of the two stage breaks. There will be no race onto or off pit road, using a controlled pit-stop procedure similar to the format in previous dirt-track events. The non-competitive pit stops must be completed within a designated time limit (3 minutes).
Stages and Schedule
The series will hold two practice sessions Friday. The first is scheduled for 50 minutes beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET (No TV). Final practice is set for 25 minutes and takes place at 9:02 p.m. ET (No TV).
Stages for Saturday’s main event will end on Lap 40 and Lap 90 with 150 laps scheduled to complete the full distance.
Tire Notes
Goodyear will have Truck Series teams running the same tire setup that was used at Bristol. However, the tire codes are different than what was used at Knoxville in 2021 (Left-side – D-3054, Right-side – D-3056). The changes were made to help the tread compound be more heat and wear resistant. The tires will be the 15-inch Dirt Bias Ply instead of the radials, which will help envelope the irregularities of the dirt surface. The tread will have a block pattern instead of the “normal” slicks to help grip and expel dirt. The right-side tire size (88.50 in.) will be similar to what teams are used to running but the left-side tire (85.79 in.) is substantially shorter to create more stagger between the left and right sides.
At just 25 years old, Ben Rhodes has already reached the peak of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Last year, he finished highest among the Championship 4 drivers, earning his first Truck Series title despite not winning the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Even though he has a championship on his resume, Rhodes said he’s determined to earn this year’s regular-season title.
“It’s weighed on me since Daytona,” Rhodes said Wednesday in a Zoom teleconference. “I’ve thought of nothing else except that regular-season championship. I want the trophy at the end of the year but what matters to me are those 15 playoff points. That’s three race wins.”
Rhodes took an unorthodox route to last year’s Truck championship with his only wins that season coming during the first two races at the Daytona International Superspeedway oval and road-course layouts.
Despite finishing second in the 2021 regular-season standings, Rhodes said he was disappointed not being at the top of the board entering the playoffs.
“It’s a shame that we led for so long last year and gave up the lead right before the regular-season championship,” Rhodes said. “I don’t want a repeat of that. I want to capitalize on this opportunity right now.”
While wins haven’t come at a high rate over the past two years, Rhodes has managed to be consistent dating back to 2021’s opener at Daytona.
On his way to the 2021 Truck Series title, Rhodes racked up 16 top-10 finishes in the 22-race season and never sustained a DNF. He also finished on the lead lap in all but three races — Atlanta Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Darlington Raceway. The trend has continued and this season has played out in a similar fashion for Rhodes, scoring a top 10 in eight of 12 races and finishing on the lead lap at every race except for Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Darlington.
Rhodes currently sits atop the regular-season standings heading into Knoxville Raceway this weekend. He is in a white-knuckle battle with Chandler Smith, Zane Smith and John Hunter Nemechek, with the four separated by just 14 points.
“People ask all the time ‘is this the closest you think the Truck Series field has ever been,’ and I do,” Rhodes said. “The last seven years I’ve been doing it, I feel like this is the toughest and closest. You just have to find a way to navigate it and set out your season with an ‘X’ amount of races to finish and an ‘X’ amount you’re going to set aside for being wrecked.”
But recently, Rhodes has hit a roller-coaster stretch over the last six races, accumulating three top 10s and three finishes outside the top 15.
Heading toward the regular-season finale at Pocono Raceway, the series travels to – what could be – wild-card weekends with just the second annual event at Knoxville and a trip to Nashville Superspeedway after the 1.33-mile oval returned to the circuit last season. And two weeks before the regular-season finale at Pocono, the Truck Series will make its debut at the Mid-Ohio Sports Course.
Rhodes has found success on road courses in his last five starts as he holds an average finish of 9.6. This includes a win at the Daytona Road Course, two top 10s at Circuit of The Americas and an 18th-place result last Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.
While Rhodes said he wants to win as many races as possible, he also wants to play it smart with the tracks coming up.
“Unfortunately, the past few races we’ve been giving up some points,” Rhodes said. “I know we are going to Knoxville and that the racing is going to be very chaotic, so I’m prepared to be as elbows-up as I have to.”
With a regular-season championship in reach, Rhodes seeks to begin the postseason with a big advantage rather than having to fight his way to the top on the road to Phoenix.
“I’m going to do everything I can to hold on to the regular-season title,” Rhodes said. “It would be a huge kick in the shorts to lose it so close to the end.”
Daniel Suárez’s plane ride back from California to North Carolina landed Monday at 5:15 a.m. local, and that marked only the beginning of his travel stress. Suárez didn’t reach his home until after 6 a.m., only to quickly turn around and drive his girlfriend, Julia Piquet, to the airport by 8:30 a.m. His flight to Mexico, where he’s spending NASCAR’s off week, wasn’t until later.
Rather than spending the down time relaxing – after only getting an hour of sleep on the cross-country trip — Suárez added another stop on his already multi-step journey.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
“I still had a couple hours,” Suárez said Tuesday in a Zoom teleconference. “I really wanted to go to the shop to thank my team of people who don’t get to travel with us every week. So, I went to the shop and I said thank you and hello to every single guy that works at Trackhouse.”
Suárez had already celebrated his victory Sunday at Sonoma Raceway with the No. 99 road crew, but he knew there were many other Trackhouse Racing members who helped build that race-winning Chevrolet. And he wasn’t about to leave the country – literally – without giving them the recognition he felt they deserved because Sunday’s win was the first of Suárez’s six-year career at NASCAR’s top level.
And more importantly from an opportunity standpoint, Suárez was Trackhouse Racing’s first driver. The team’s formation was officially announced in 2020 by Justin Marks and Armando Perez (better known as Pitbull), who both personally picked Suárez to competitively debut their No. 99 Chevy in 2021. Suárez had been in a tough spot prior to the offer, driving for his third team in as many seasons, and circumstances couldn’t be any different than present day. His contract status, which he admits has been discussed but not finalized, seems to be a non-issue.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
“This is my home. I’m not going anywhere,” Suárez said. “So, I’m not too worried about it, but contract today, tomorrow, next month, in a couple months, I feel like we’re in a very, very good place, probably the best place I’ve ever been with a team, so I’m 100% sure things are going to work out.”
Suárez has never spent more than two seasons with a single Cup Series team. He joined full-time in 2017 with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he spent two years after winning the 2016 Xfinity Series title with the organization. He then spent a year apiece at Stewart-Haas Racing and Gaunt Brothers Racing. He’s amid his second run with Trackhouse Racing, with strong hopes of more to come.
Obviously, the win was a first, but Suárez is also on track to break his career-high seasonal mark in top-five finishes. He has three this year, with 20 races to go. His best total was four in 2019.
“It takes a lot to win in the Cup Series,” Suárez said. “I felt that in the past, maybe I wasn’t experienced enough, not just on the race track but also outside the race track, to get the right people in place. I mean, just things were not clicking. And it happens, right? I will say, with Trackhouse, it just felt very good since the beginning. I felt support and trust, honestly, like I have never felt before in the Cup Series. It was pretty amazing.”
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Now, in its second season, Trackhouse Racing has added a second driver to its roster in Ross Chastain. He pilots the No. 1 entry and has won two races in 2022. Chastain broke through before Suárez – winning at Circuit of The Americas (his first career win as well) and Talladega Superspeedway – but that didn’t worry or stress Suárez out. Instead, the two internal teams worked together.
In fact, Chastain finished seventh at Sonoma – and then he met Suárez in Victory Lane.
“That was Justin’s vision from the very beginning: to make us work together,” Suárez said. “I mean, many people out there, they say, ‘Yeah, we work together,’ but behind the doors, you know the reality is different. And in Trackhouse, we actually do it. We actually do it, and the beauty is that it is shown on the track. That’s quite special.”
After a two week break, the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season resumes with a trip to New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway for the running of the Duel at the Dog 200.
Saturday’s race is the sixth of the season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and it marks the return of the Tour to Monadnock after last visiting the facility during the 2020 season.
The race is also the second leg of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup, a three-race miniseries consisting of three Tour events in the state of New Hampshire offering bonuses to participating teams.
The Duel at the Dog 200 is the third race of four on the Tour schedule this season that is being promoted by JDV Productions.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has competed at Monadnock 13 times, with the Tour initially visiting the track in 1986. That race was won by Ken Bouchard, with additional races in the following years won by Jimmy Spencer, Mike Stefanik, Reggie Ruggiero and Jamie Tomaino.
Following Tomaino’s victory in 1990, the Tour didn’t return to Monadnock again until 2010, when the late Ted Christopher found Victory Lane. In the years that followed, drivers like Justin Bonsignore, Ryan Preece, Doug Coby and Timmy Solomito collected Tour victories at the track.
Bonsignore is the most recent Tour winner at Monadnock, collecting the checkered flag when the series last visited the facility in 2020.
Below is everything you need to know about Saturday’s Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway.
Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway
What to watch for:
After sitting out the most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway, Coby is back aboard Tommy Baldwin’s No. 7NY Modified in the hopes of picking up where he left off.
Coby has won the last two Tour races in which he has competed, at New York’s Riverhead Raceway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway. He has a previous victory at Monadnock, so should be considered a contender to win his third race in as many starts this year.
Someone hoping to stop Coby’s winning streak is Bonsignore, who is the only multi-time winner in Tour competition at the track. In his eight previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts at the New Hampshire oval, he has earned three wins and has a worst finish of ninth.
Jimmy Blewett returns to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competition this week following the birth of his daughter. He’ll wheel a second car out of the Tommy Baldwin Racing stable as a teammate to Coby.
Matt Hirschman is also back with the Tour after last competing at Lee USA Speedway. He has competed in three Tour events at Monadnock, earning a best finish of third during the 2011 season.
Despite being winless so far this season, Ron Silk enters the Duel at the Dog 200 as the Tour points leader. He is the only driver this year to earn top-10 finishes in every NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race contested so far.
Jake Johnson is back in the Ole Blue No. 3 for Boehler Racing Enterprises. In his last race in the No. 3, he earned his first Tour pole at Lee USA Speedway, which carried him to a fifth-place finish.
J.B. Fortin rolls into Monadnock following a career-best third place finish at Jennerstown last month. He will attempt to better the 24th-place finish he earned in his only previous Tour start at Monadnock in 2020.
Other Tour regulars expected to compete include Patrick Emerling, Kyle Bonsignore, Dave Sapienza, Tommy Catalano, Jon McKennedy and Craig Lutz.
Two drivers, Brian Robie and Todd Patnode, are expected to make their NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debuts this week in the Duel at the Dog 200. Patnode is the defending track champion at Monadnock in the NHSTRA Modified class.
The complete entry list for the Duel at the Dog 200 will be available later this week.
Race action during the Advanced Gas Distributors 200 Wade Cole Memorial for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, New Hampshire, on Aug. 30, 2020. (Photo: Kathryn Riley/NASCAR)
Schedule: Garage opens at 11:30 a.m. ET … Final practice from 2-3 p.m. ET … Single-car qualifying (two laps) at 5 p.m. ET … Race at 8:30 p.m. ET
Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Duel at the Dog 200 is limited to 28 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eight (8) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is zero (0) tires, any position.
Amber Balcaen, the first Canadian female driver to win a NASCAR race in the United States and one of the inaugural participants in the Busch Light Accelerate Her program, is a trailblazer on and off the track.
Balcaen began driving go-karts on the dirt tracks of North Dakota and, after many victories, moved up to lightning sprints. After leading races in a 410 Outlaw Sprint car, she was ultimately crowned Rookie of the Year in 2014.
To support a full-time career in motorsports, Balcaen created her own business and was able to raise funds entirely on her own. She now races in the ARCA Menards Series.
Balcaen aims to become the first woman to win a national ARCA Menards Series race and the first woman to win the national ARCA Menards Series championship in 2022. With support from the Busch Light Accelerate Her program, she hopes to make her dream a reality — this year.
“Being a part of the Busch Light Accelerate Her program has allowed me to align myself with other great females in my sport,” Balcaen said. “Working with such a big brand has helped increase exposure for myself, my race team and my other partners. It’s an honor to work with a major brand that has had a huge role in NASCAR for a long time.”
When it comes to achieving success in her industry, Balcaen encourages fellow drivers to focus on improving their skills and educating themselves about the ins and outs of the sport.
“Your mindset and work ethic off the track is just as important as on the track,” Balcaen said.
ABOUT THE BUSCH LIGHT ACCELERATE HER PROGRAM
The Busch Light Accelerate Her Program is a three-year commitment that takes aim at the inequity of resources available to female drivers by investing directly in every 21+ female driver in NASCAR, providing brand-building opportunities to increase fan visibility of drivers and the sport. The Busch Light Accelerate Her program is the next step in a proud, 40-year partnership between Busch Light and NASCAR that has propelled the sport forward, bringing fans closer to the action and expanding NASCAR throughout the U.S. Busch Light asks that fans show their support by heading to Busch.com/accelerateher, where they can learn more about the inaugural drivers, including Balcaen, who are receiving this opportunity.
There are a number of drivers with years of experience racing in the Limited Late Model division at Langley Speedway this season. But it’s a 14-year-old rookie who is giving them all a run for their money.
Teenager Ryley Music won the first four (and five of the first six) Limited Late Model races at NASCAR-sanctioned Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway to start this season, and he currently leads the points at the Hampton, Virginia track.
Music may be young, but he is already a veteran at Langley. He has been racing there for four years and already has two track titles in the Bandoleros division.
But even with all that experience, he said he is shocked with how quick he has found success in the higher division.
“I really thought the older, more experienced people… would be the ones to beat,” Music said. “It’s been a huge learning curve, because really what I used to drive was just hold the pedal to the floor and turn left, where the late model relies on so much control and so much perfection compared to the bandoleros.”
One of those older, more experienced drivers Music competes against is his own uncle, Doug Warren. The Warren name is a familiar one at Langley. Music’s grandfather, Phil Warren, won a track record seven late model championships as a driver and has added four more as a crew chief. He is currently the crew chief for driver Brenden Queen, who also leads the Late Model division points at the track.
(Photo: Langley Speedway)
Phil Warren had already finished racing by the time Music was born, but Music still grew up around the sport, and he got the chance to try it himself when he was gifted a go-kart at around 5 years old.
“It was never really, ‘I want to race.’ It was, somebody brought over a go-kart and said, ‘If we ever decided to start, it’s there,'” Music said. “My mom one day walked out in the race shop and said, ‘If you want to do it, we’ve got the car and we can go try it here soon.’
“We didn’t start out well; not one bit.”
Getting to spend time with his grandfather is what Music said he loves most about racing. The teenager learned from his grandfather the value in going slow to go fast, especially around Langley, a 0.395-mile paved oval.
“He’s taught me to be smooth, and the consistency is one big thing he taught me,” Music said.
The other aspect of racing Phil Warren taught Music was the value of spending time in the garage.
“I’ve always been taught you’re not a good race car driver unless you know every part of the car,” Music said. “The time I get to spend with my grandfather, me and him are always together working on either Brenden’s car or my car. Racing has brought us close… It means a lot. I definitely enjoy it a lot.
“I’m always at the race track. I race one week and I go help Brendan the next. I’m doing tires for him and working on my own car. I go to the shop during the week with him, work on his car, come right back home and work on mine. So it’s great to see that, that me and the family love it. My other uncle goes out and spots weekly for some (NASCAR) Cup and Xfinity (Series races). Granddad is constantly working on race cars. I race my uncle. It just means a lot.”
Even though he is racing on the track where his family has made a name for themselves, Music said he tries not to focus on that legacy. To him, that would be too much pressure.
Ryley Music in action at Langley Speedway (Photo: Given to Fly Photography)
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to beat his uncle on Saturday nights.
“It’s competitive on and off the track. I go over there and I help him with his car every once in a while, but we talk trash to each other,” Music said with a laugh. “Mostly I talk trash to him because I’m younger and always want to beat him. So there’s a lot of trash talk between us two, but we always joke around and have fun. We go race on Saturday and go out knee-boarding on Sunday.”
Being competitive while having fun is what’s most important to Music, and what he thinks has been the key to his success. He admits he is not really focused on winning, and he is still shocked he has found Victory Lane so many times this early in the season.
As the summer heats up, his goals are the same as they were before the season even began.
“I came into the year just wanting to win a single race, and I’ve already exceeded that,” Music said. “It was just mostly this year prove that I’m good enough to be there and just show that I should be there, and I’ve worked hard to get there.
“That’s really what my goals were is try to win a race and have a shot, and maybe be in contention for a championship. The goal for the rest of the year is just have fun and win races. If you focus on the championship this early it messes you up more than it helps you.”
Racing returns to Langley Speedway this Saturday night for the Hampton Roads Harley Davidson Race Night, featuring Father’s Night Twin Modifieds, Super Streets, Enduros, UCars, Pro Six, and Karts. Racing begins at 7 p.m. ET.
NASCAR officials issued penalties Tuesday to a pair of NASCAR Cup Series teams stemming from violations during last weekend’s events at Sonoma Raceway.
No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crew chief Cliff Daniels and crew members Donnie Tasser and Brandon Johnson have been suspended from the next four events, through New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s race weekend on July 17. Kyle Larson’s No. 5 machine lost a tire on Sunday at the California road course, a violation of Section 10.5.2.6: Loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle.
Hendrick will not appeal the penalty.
Separately, Rick Ware Racing and Cody Ware have been penalized with the loss of 20 NASCAR Cup Series championship team owner and driver points after multiple inspection failures. The No. 51 team failed pre-qualifying inspection four times, sending Ware to the rear of the field to start Sunday’s race and mandating a pass-through penalty after the green flag.
The series next races at 5 p.m. ET on June 26 at Nashville Superspeedway on NBC.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Alpha Prime Racing announced Tuesday that Julia Landauer will be making her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 16, driving the No. 45 Boss Beauties/GarageXYZ Chevrolet for Alpha Prime Racing. With this new partnership, Boss Beauties and GarageXYZ also become the first NFT communities to sponsor a driver in NASCAR.
“We’ve been trying to get Julia in our race car all year long,” said Tommy Joe Martins, Alpha Prime Racing’s general manager. “Ever since her days in a NASCAR West car, I felt like she deserved an opportunity at this level. I am really glad we were able to put it all together and give her a shot here at Alpha Prime.”
Landauer, a two-time champion racer, makes her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut after finishing fifth in the 2020 NASCAR Euro Series championship, the highest finish ever for an American in the history of the series. In 2021, after taking a break from racing, Landauer began exploring and creating in Web3, learning more about the new version of the internet that’s built on decentralized blockchain technology. It was in this exploration she connected with the Web3 companies Boss Beauties and GarageXYZ. Penta ESP, a leader in electrical safety products manufacturing, and FrontRunner, a Web3 consulting services company, are also signing on as contributing sponsors for Landauer’s NASCAR Xfinity Series debut.
“I’m so happy to be racing at this level with Tommy Joe Martins and Alpha Prime Racing,” Landauer said. “Jumping into Web3 introduced me to the incredible people at Boss Beauties and GarageXYZ, both of which are strong communities with passionate people that believe in the power of supporting women. I’m excited to introduce them to NASCAR. I also really appreciate Penta ESP and FrontRunner for supporting me. It’s going to be fun!”
“We are honored to team up with Julia Landauer in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Lisa Mayer, co-founder and CEO of Boss Beauties, a female-led mission-driven NFT company. “Julia’s efforts advocating for women and girls and STEM education help to inspire and advance a culture of inclusion in male-dominated fields. We see this as much more than a sponsorship – it is an opportunity to showcase our shared values. We are proud to have Julia Landauer representing Boss Beauties both on and off the track. This is a perfect partnership and a new level of awareness for Boss Beauties as we continue to grow exponentially.”
“We are absolutely thrilled to support Julia Landauer,” said Anthony Kline, CEO and cofounder at GarageXYZ, a modern-day car club that unites automotive fans via unparalleled artwork and utility and provides (GarageXYZ) NFT holders with once-in-a-lifetime experiences. “We believe community-backed motorsports is the future and a novel way to bring fans and drivers closer together.”
Landauer and her Boss Beauties/GarageXYZ No. 45 Chevy Camaro will make their on-track debut July 15, for a 30-minute practice session beginning at 5 p.m. ET. Single-lap, single-car qualifying will take place just after practice at 5:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of the July 16 race at New Hampshire will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network. Follow Landauer’s social media (@julialandauer) for more information.
